Hixon Rail Crash - Events Leading Up To The Accident

Events Leading Up To The Accident

On 6 January, a 120-ton electrical transformer was to be moved from the English Electric works at Stafford to a storage depot on the disused airfield at Hixon. The airfield was on Station Road, adjacent to the Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line and approximately three miles north of Colwich Junction.

To carry out this move a huge transporter vehicle, 148 feet (45 m) long and with a 32-wheeled trailer, was chartered. It had a gross weight of 162 tons, was impelled by a tractor unit at each end, and had a crew of five. In charge of the vehicle was Mr B. H. Groves, who occupied the leading cab. The journey was not an unusual procedure as six other abnormal loads belonging to the English Electric Company had passed over the automatic crossing in the preceding months.

The transporter and its police escort left Stafford at approximately 09:30 on the morning of Saturday 6 January. Although Hixon was only six miles from Stafford, the nature of the load meant that it needed to travel south out of the town and then along a somewhat laborious route north via the M6 motorway, the A34 to Stone and finally the A51 to Hixon. This route had been approved by the Ministry of Transport, but the map of the route made no mention of the level crossing at Hixon; the description of the route in the Order merely ended with "..Weston to junc class III road approx 2 miles (3.2 km) past Hixon turn left class III road turn left access road to English Electric Works and destination.". Mr J. H. Preston, Chief of Heavy Transport at English Electric had mentioned the level crossing to Groves, but only as a landmark.

At around 12:20 the transporter turned off the A51 into Station Road and slowed to walking pace as it approached the crossing. It stopped for a moment while the police car went over the crossing to check where the entrance to the airfield was; on its return, one of the police officers told Groves that "this is the place" and proceeded back over the level crossing.

The trailer needed to be raised by the crew in order to negotiate the track, but, in addition, it needed to be low enough to clear the overhead lines. While this was taking place the transporter slowed to around 2 mph (3.2 km/h). At this speed, it would take approximately one minute to traverse the crossing.